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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27633151">Dreamland</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ruenic/pseuds/ruenic'>ruenic</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dreamwastaken, George - Fandom, GeorgeNotFound - Fandom, Glass Animals, Minecraft - Fandom, Minecraft Youtubers, dream - Fandom, heat waves - Fandom, mcyt</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>wee woo</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 18:00:14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,703</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27633151</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ruenic/pseuds/ruenic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>dream and george have dreams uh oh</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>65</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Lure</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>
    <em>Lure</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Blehhh,, what time is it?” George scratches his head, he had been playing minecraft for what felt like 5 minutes and 15 hours simultaneously. Sapnap had left the call a few hours before, he needed to go to sleep, he told them he had a test the next day or something, George wasn’t really paying attention. He’d probably ask Dream about it later. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uh.. my time or your time?” Dream asks, George could hear him smiling, he was being a dick. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“My time, idiot” George rolls his eyes, Dream always got like this after they were in a call for a long time. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They had their moments.. They would talk for a while, eventually until Sapnap would have to leave, he always left first, and then it was just the two of them. Dream and George. George and Dream. However you want to say it. Then they would talk for a bit more, usually fun and lighthearted conversations. Then it would get dark for Dream. It would get late. That's when they had their real conversations. They were really superficial if you looked too much into it, but they felt real enough. Their friendship felt like that at times as well. Superficial, real enough to give them hope, but not enough to be truly real. That’s where they were now.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It's 8 in the morning, George” Dream said, George always felt normal when Dream said his name, which was strange, considering George almost never called Dream by his real name. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s 3 in the morning for you” George frowned. “Go to sleep”.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, you’re not my mom” Dream teased.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, you’re right, I should call her right now” George poked back, he loved doing that, Dream almost never expected it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No” Dream’s voice sounded serious, almost no joking tone. Almost. He always had a slight smile in his voice.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fine fine, I was bluffing. But seriously, go to sleep, or I will call her” George was also tired, he was looking for an excuse, any excuse, to go to sleep. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What about you?” Dream asked, “you’ll be all alone without my company”.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ll be going to sleep as well” George snapped, a bit angry at Dream’s resilience to sleep. “I fixed my sleeping schedule to yours, I’m practically nocturnal at this point”.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dream laughed. “Fine fine, goodnight George, I’ll think of you in my dreams”.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Idiot”.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George got ready for bed, he was truly exhausted.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  
  <em>
    <span>I’ll think of you in my dreams</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> This stuck out to him. Why?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Whatever. </span>
  </em>
  <span>He thought. </span>
  <em>
    <span>It’s probably just me overthinking again.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He got in bed and resisted the urge to grab his phone. He knew if he got a hold of it, he would be up another few hours, and that was bad.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, maybe I’ll just listen to one song, that won’t hurt, right?”, he asked the dark, empty room. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He reached for his phone and went to twitter. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Liar, </span>
  </em>
  <span>he thought to himself.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>Send me your music playlists, I’d like to get to know some of your guys’ music taste</em>
  </b>
  <em>
    <span>,</span>
  </em>
  <span> he tweeted. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dream liked it immediately. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Shit</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He knew what was coming next. As the replies poured in, people eager for George to hear their playlists, the little discord notification went off. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>I thought you were supposed to be asleep? ;)</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dream, of course. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>So are you, </em>
  </b>
  <span>George shot back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>Fair, </em>
  </b>
  <span>Dream replied.  </span>
  <b>
    <em>So what’s up with your tweet? Why the sudden interest in music? </em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George thought for a moment. He didn’t know why, exactly, he asked this.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>Idk, I got bored of my music I guess? I couldn’t really fall asleep so I was searching for a song that would help with that.. </em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dream hesitated his response, George could tell.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>I’m fine. </em>
  </b>
  <span>George clarified. </span>
  <b>
    <em>Just not tired enough to sleep yet apparently</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><ol>
<li>
<span>was Dream’s response. </span><b><em>Let me know if you find something good..</em></b>
</li>
</ol><p> </p><p>
  <span>And that was it. The little green dot on Dream’s icon disappeared, and he was gone. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George opened twitter to finally check the replies. There were too many to count. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As he scrolled through them, none of them really catching his attention, he saw an account that did. It had a bright pink, floating head wearing sunglasses, with a lilac background, as a profile picture. He clicked the account and the header just said one word: </span>
  <b>DREAMLAND.</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George went back to look at what this person had replied. A Spotify playlist. He clicked it, quite curious at what he had found in his reply section. The entire playlist was filled with one song, the title of the playlist being of the same name. </span>
  <b>DREAMLAND.</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Haha, very funny, </span>
  </em>
  <span>George thought, someone was clearly just trying to mess with him. Curious anyways, he clicked the song. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The music was different than what he usually listened to, but it was strangely comforting. He sent it to Dream. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>I found this strange account, they sent this playlist, </em>
  </b>
  <span>George sent Dream a link to the playlist. </span>
  <b>
    <em>If you ignore the creepiness of how I found it, it’s a pretty good song, right? </em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dream was probably sleeping, he didn’t expect a reply until he woke up.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>It’s a good song, </em>
  </b>
  <span>Dream replied after a few minutes, to George’s surprise. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>Right? Maybe the person who sent it was just a troll? Wanted to mess with me, since the song’s name is Dreamland after all. </em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dream typed. Then deleted. Then started typing again. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>Yea, definitely just a troll, but it’s a good thing you found them, it’s a really good song. But go to bed, I'm actually tired now, goodnight. </em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George sighed, he hated when Dream left in the middle of their conversations. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>Goodnight Dream. </em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He played the song, loud, and put his phone under his pillow, letting the muffled sound drown out any worries he might’ve had. The lyrics he heard resonated in his chest. The ones he could understand, and the ones he’d have to look up the next morning. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Pulling down backstreets deep in your head</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Slipping through Dreamland like a tourist</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He let the song lull him to sleep, head completely empty of thoughts, except one he couldn’t quite shake. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I’ll think of you in my dreams. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Silk Touch</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>given the current events surrounding Heat Waves, I don't mind if the cc's find out about Dreamland, although i would rather they not find out.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>
    <em>Silk Touch</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey! George!” a familiar voice called to him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Dream?” he rubbed his head, there was a slight ringing in his ears, and it felt as if his head was stuffed with cotton. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“George! Did you just get here?” Dream was standing next to him, he draped his arms over George’s shoulders and gave him a half hug. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes, I- I did.. Where is ‘here’?” George finally processed what was going on around him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He was in a place. He couldn’t quite explain it. It was empty, but it felt full. It was endless, just the deep purple ground and light teal sky. The horizon seemed to be right in the middle of his vision, no matter where he was standing. There wasn’t a single cloud, or a single anything. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dream was there, wearing jeans and a green hoodie, and of course, his signature mask. He shrugged his shoulders, letting his arms fall to his sides, signaling he doesn’t know.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How long have you been here?” George asked Dream. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“About 30 minutes. There doesn’t seem to be anything to do.” Dream looked around, George didn’t know if Dream could see or not, the mask seemed to be blocking his vision. “That feeling, the headache, it’ll be gone within a few minutes.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How did you know about the headache?” George asked. </span>
  <span></span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>“I got one too, it felt as if it would never end, it eventually did though.” Dream replied. “Why am I wearing a mask though?” he pondered to no one in particular, reaching for it. It seemed as if he couldn’t take it off. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That’s when George noticed it, his glasses were resting on his head, and the fake supreme shirt. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Damn, are we wearing our minecraft skins?” He chuckled. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, no,” Dream replied. “This is nothing like what my minecraft skin looks like”.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, yea I guess you’re right. It looks like how everyone draws fanart, kinda like how I imagine you look like” George said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Something clicked in Dream’s head, George could tell by the way his head jumped up a little.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know why we look like this!” Dream said, excited. “It’s how we imagine each other!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh! Yea that makes a lot of sense, since I don’t know what you look like, I imagined you with the mask!” George made the correlation. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dream smiled. “Yea”.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wait a minute” George said, “this place, it’s not real, right?” he looked around, at all the nothing surrounding them. “This is just a dream, you’re not real”. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dream tilted his head quizzically, George mimicked his action. “I’m the real one, George. You’re the dream part of this..” he trailed off, confused at the strange words from George. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George shook his head, there’s no way this was the real Dream, in front of him, he was clearly asleep, making up this stuff in his head. “No, that.. That makes no sense, I’m the real one, I </span>
  <span>know </span>
  <span>I’m the real one”. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dream reached out to George, grabbing his arm, his hand was soft, but cold. George pulled away. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Wind started picking up, they didn’t know from where. It kept getting stronger, uncontrollable, and they had nowhere to seek shelter. The wind became too strong and lifted them off the ground, it was as if they were as light as feathers. George reached for Dream, regretting his hostility, but it was too late. The wind pulled them into the sky, teal clouding their vision until they could no longer see the purple ground. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Then George woke up. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sweat pooled around him, he thought about the dream. </span>
  <em>
    <span>It was just a dream, right? That had to have been a dream, a really strange dream with a self-aware dream Dream. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dreamland was still playing, even more muffled than before, his phone had fallen between the wall and his bed. He grabbed it and turned the music off. </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>George checked the time, it was 6 pm, he’d slept 9 hours. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maybe he should text Dream, ask him if he’d had any strange dreams last night. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He probably hadn’t.. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Thats a stupid idea, people can’t just share dreams.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His phone beeped. George’s mind wandered back to reality and read what was on the screen. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>Hey, I’m going to stream right now, do you want to join me? </em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sapnap.. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>Hey, I just woke up, sorry, maybe another time. </em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sapnap read the message, and then his online bubble disappeared, turning grey. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George didn’t feel like doing anything that day, he’d been thrown off by the dream, it didn’t feel right. Dreams happened so often, but someone being self-aware, and telling him that </span>
  <span>he</span>
  <span> wasn’t real? That had never happened before, it made him uncomfortable, especially since it was Dream who had told him that. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>But.. Dream didn’t act like someone who was in a dream, he acted like the person who was having the dream. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George hated how much this was consuming his thoughts, he felt completely useless. He hadn’t streamed in a week and that made him feel bad, it made him feel as if he was getting recognition he didn’t deserve. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He decided he would make himself some food, to distract himself from the strange dream. George left his room and grabbed a bowl of cereal, he turned on the tv and chose some random show to watch while he ate. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After a few episodes, the guilt got to him, and George decided he was going to stream. He texted Sapnap, who was still streaming.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>Hey, would it be okay if I streamed right now? I know you’re streaming, I can wait until after you’re done though.. </em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> Sapnap’s icon turned green, and George saw him typing. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>Nah dude, it’s ok, I was actually gonna end the stream in 5-ish minutes, if you wait a bit, I could raid you?</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George sent a thumbs up emoji and then set up his computer to stream. He clicked on Sapnap’s stream while waiting for the heads up that he could start streaming. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Dream’s on the stream.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As if on cue, George’s phone lit up with a notification from Dream. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>Hey, do you mind if I join you during your stream?</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George felt anxiety flare up in his chest, the feeling of last night’s dream filling his head. He pushed them down, forcing his fingers to move.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>Yea, I have no problem with that. </em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sapnap gave George the heads up and George began his stream. Viewers poured in as the notification went out, he saw his friends view count drop a bit, but not much, he felt bad. A few minutes later, Sapnap’s raid happened, and George let Dream know to get ready to join the stream. George’s chat was racing, some people asking about Dream, others telling everyone to shut up, the chaos it usually is. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Dream will be joining us soon”, he said, and chat began racing even faster. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Gogy, you should tell Dream to stream more often” the donation voice said, and he laughed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes, I’ll make sure to do that soon” Dream’s voice appeared, it startled him a little. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey George! Hi George’s stream!” Dream chuckled. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, let me turn the donation voice off, I promise I’ll read all your messages once the stream is over” George hurried to turn off the robotic voice. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So what are we going to do today, George?” Dream questioned. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George could feel an awkward air settled between them, but he couldn’t tell if it was just him. The dream he’d had last night left him slightly unsettled for some reason, and Dream only reminded him of that feeling. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I- I’m not sure..” George replied. He truly wasn’t, he hadn’t planned anything. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wow George, don’t even have a plan for your stream? That’s a bit of a rookie move..” Dream trailed off, his jab at George felt more critical than joking. George was sure Dream could feel the awkwardness too. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uh.. how about Dream smp? We could mine some stuff. Wait, no that’s boring, What if we build something. Something entertaining.” George was grasping for ideas, he had never wanted something to do so bad in his life before, he’d never felt awkward around Dream, so this was torture. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dream chuckled, brightened his tone, and spoke, “what if we built a chapel?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George’s brow furrowed. “A chapel? Why?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So that we have an actual place to hold weddings, not just doing them on the spot like we usually do”, Dream explained. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George sighed, anything was better than nothing. “Sure, let's build a chapel.. What materials should we use?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Quartz and stone” Dream decided, and for a brief moment, things felt normal. Brief. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They built for a while, every now and then going to get more materials, and then continuing to build. They didn’t really talk much, George turned the donations back on. They did a short bit with Quackity, him and Dream fought over George, but it just felt awkward.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He checked how long he had been streaming, it had only been an hour, he couldn’t end the stream yet.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two were alone again, Dream had asked George to turn off the donations a little bit ago, before Quackity joined, and it would feel rude to turn them back on again. He couldn’t take the anxiety anymore, he hated it, he just wanted to stream with his best friend, without having to feel a burning fear inside his chest the entire time. They were sitting in silence, all you could hear were the minecraft blocks being placed as they continued to build the chapel. Each second in silence, the anxiety burned hotter, burning through his chest, engulfing his heart, it was eating him alive. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey chat, I have to go for a bit, I’ll be right back, Dream will stay with you..” he blurted out, and then promptly muted his mic on stream. He couldn’t stop himself anymore, all his emotions were surfacing, the anxiety pushing them out, overflowing. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Dream” he said, harshly. Dream stuttered, he wasn’t muted on stream, he had to pretend as if George was gone. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey chat, I’m not quite sure why George left so abruptly, maybe he will explain when he gets back” the last few words sounded harsh, he wasn’t happy. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George stiffened. He hadn’t thought this through. He made sure to plan his next words carefully..</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Look Dream, I’m sorry for leaving the stream so abruptly, and I would mute you too but the stream will know somethings wrong, but I really need to explain some things”. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George hesitated. Did he really want to do this?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Things have been a bit awkward between us today, right?” George asked, not sure what he was expecting. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes I agree, chat, George has been acting a bit off today, it has been a bit awkward.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The anxiety flared up in his chest again, stronger than before, and he swallowed it down, leaving goosebumps all over his arms. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This is.. This is going to sound very stupid, but it feels wrong not telling you..” George’s voice was trembling, Dream noticed, and softened his tone. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“George can talk to me once he comes back, if he wants to tell you all, he will, but I won’t, chat, I’m not a bad friend” Dream assured. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George felt a bit better, and decided he would tell him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I- I had a dream last night, you were in it, and it felt real, really real, more real than any other interactions we’ve had before..” George didn’t know if he had crossed a line, yet he couldn’t stop anymore, he’d said too much and Dream wouldn’t let him stop now. “..a- and I know that sounds really terrible, and this next part is really stupid, but I was wondering if that was you in the dream.. Not you like, a ‘figment of my mind’ you, the real you..” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The silence was deafening, George couldn’t tell what Dream was doing, thinking, what he would respond, and the fire inside him came back, rising to his throat. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“George.. I- I didn’t know you thought like that about our friendship.. It hurts a bit that a dream felt more real than our friendship..?” The joking tone in Dream’s voice was completely gone, George had never heard him speak like this before, Dream’s voice was soaked in hurt, and it completely settled all of George’s anxiety, and quickly replaced it with guilt. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I shouldn’t have said that, why did I say that.. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Guilt quickly spawned nausea and George had completely frozen up. He mustered up all the courage to move, he needed to end the stream, he needed to end it right at that minute, or he would completely break down in front of tens of thousands of people. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Goodbye, Dream” he whispered, and didn’t even wait for Dream to finish his sentence, his words meant nothing anymore, his pleas for George to not hang up the phone.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He unmuted his stream mic and briefly ended the stream, chat was going wild. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As soon as he went offline he rushed to the bathroom and splashed water on his face, the nausea wasn’t going away, but his stomach didn’t have anything to empty.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His phone started ringing, he didn’t even have to look at it to know it was Dream. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> George collapsed onto the floor between his room and the bathroom, a heap of anxiety and regret. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I shouldn’t have done that.. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Feather Falling</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hi, so i will be updating a lot slower than usual because school has been a bit tough, but yeah! :) also I really care about this story, and I don't mind if any of the cc's find out, even though I doubt it, but if any of the cc's involved in this are uncomfortable, please just let me know and I can take down the story/change the name, whatever they wish.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>
    <em>Feather Falling</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George lifted his head from the floor, and opened his eyes. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He was back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And so was the headache.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The deep purple ground felt soft this time, almost as if he had been laying in bed, instead of on the ground. He stood up, and the ground stiffened, turning back into a hard solid. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Hm? That’s weird, maybe the ground shifts to what we want?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dream wasn’t there this time, he was nowhere to be found. George was thankful for this, he couldn’t face seeing Dream, even if it’s just a dream version of him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George decided, since he was alone, he would explore the strange plane he was on, although after what felt like hours walking around aimlessly, he’d come to the conclusion that this place really was endless. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He didn’t know what to do at this point. He didn’t want to wake up, that would push him back into the reality where everything was messed up. He hated that. He regretted what he did, and he really wanted to take it all back, maybe pretend it never happened? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dream wouldn’t do that.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George felt his head clear up, the stuffy cotton feel slowly seeping away. He sat down, feeling the ground around him, it was still solid, unlike when he had first arrived. He wondered what the deal with that was, this world was so strange. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Obviously it’s strange, I’m in a dream..</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He sat there, pondering everything that had happened, thinking of ways to fix his mess. Not only was his friendship in shambles, but he was sure twitter was as well, and the fact that he was leaving it for Dream to deal with didn’t make him feel any better. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George’s head was swirling, he felt as if he were trapped in a whirlpool, and there’s no escape. The only way out is to swim into the eye of the storm. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But George couldn’t do that, he couldn’t. He didn’t have it in him, he was too weak. He just wanted to play minecraft, he didn’t want to exist anymore. The room was spinning, the headache had disappeared, but his guilt still left nausea pooling in the bottom of his stomach. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He decided he would lay down again, and he let himself get lost in the bright teal sky, any negative feelings melting away. He wondered how far out the sky went. If it was anything like the ground, it probably went out forever. It was something he had never experienced before, he hadn’t stopped to appreciate the place the first time he was there. There were no shadows, it was as if no darkness existed in this place, but it wasn’t bright. The teal sky was perfect, if that was even possible, the perfect shade of teal. George could stay here forever, he would be fine living in this perfect, flat plane, where everything felt safe. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He didn’t feel bored, even though he was just staring at the sky, he didn’t find himself wanting to do other things. Hours could have gone by and he wouldn’t have even noticed. But then he heard a voice, and the guilt immediately built back up.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“George..” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He shot up at the sound of Dream’s voice. George kept his head down, he couldn’t bear to look at him. “D- Dream.. Hi” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He felt himself begin to panic, but he forced himself to calm down, he wouldn’t do this to himself. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“George, look I-” Dream started, but George cut him off. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Save it, I don’t need to hear whatever you’re going to say, you’re not even real” George rolled his eyes, he hated that his mind had to interrupt such a peaceful moment by conjuring Dream. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, George, you don’t understand..” Dream smiled a little, George could hear it. “I am real..” the last word seeped into a chuckle, and George relaxed a little, delighted that Dream was choosing to ignore what had just happened. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Delight quickly turned to confusion. “What do you mean “I’m real..”? Like, you’re not the real you.. Right? You’re just my subconscious or something”. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dream cautiously walked towards him, George let him. “N- no, George, I’m real, the real me, not part of your dream. When you mentioned your dream during the stream today, I was shocked because I thought the same thing as you, I thought that you were fake, just a dream, but when you brought it up, it freaked me out a bit..” Dream hesitated. George knew what was coming next. “And then I processed what you had said”.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George let his head fall even further, his shoulders slumped. He was fighting back tears, he didn’t want to show Dream how much it affected him, how awful George felt that he had hurt Dream. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“George, I know you didn’t mean it like that, I understand that, and I’m really sorry I wasn’t careful with what I said on stream, everyone freaked out and kept asking if we were still friends, and.. I didn’t know what to say..” Dream took a deep breath. “I didn’t know if you feel the same way I do about our friendship. You’ve got to understand how horrible it is, to find out your best friend might not think the same way about you? It hurts, that shit fucking hurts”.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George shrunk in on himself, Dream has sworn before, but not like this, and never directed at George. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Please George, just say that we’re okay, we never have to acknowledge this again if you want to, just please..” Dream was pleading, George felt the tears overflow, he couldn’t hold back anymore. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes, of course we’re okay!” George sobbed. “I care about you so much and I was so scared I would lose what we had, I’m so sorry..” he finally lifted his head to look at Dream, tears were streaming down his face. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dream smiled and pulled George into a hug, resting his chin on George’s head. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George focused on the way Dream held him, hyper-aware of how close they were. George could hear Dream’s heartbeat in his chest, it echoed throughout George’s entire body, beating in sync with his own. It was comforting. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George stepped back from the hug and reached up, his hand pushing Dream’s hair behind his ear, his other hand lacing through his hair. George traced through Dream’s hair around to the back of his head, grasping the clip holding the mask onto Dream’s face. Dream’s arms had fallen slightly, now resting around George’s waist. Dream nodded a little, giving George permission to take the mask off.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> His heart was racing. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He released the clip and the mask slid off of Dream’s face, falling between them. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“WHAT THE FUCK?!” George screamed, pushing away from Dream. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Except it wasn’t Dream. Where Dream’s face was supposed to be, instead was a gaping black hole, emptiness. Dream’s body fell to the ground, making a horrendous sound that sent shivers up George’s spine. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The force of George’s push threw him to the ground as well, and he scrambled to get away from the husk that used to be Dream, but the endless plane they were once on, was now too small, and there was nowhere for George to go. </span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Bane of Arthropods</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>
    <em>Bane of Arthropods</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George woke up in a cold sweat. The image of Dream’s lifeless, faceless body was burned into his mind, it made him feel disgusting. He immediately texted Dream, he needed to confirm that what had happened hadn’t actually been a dream. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>That dream I had last night.. You had it too, right?</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George awaited a response, he was shaking. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>Yeah.. it was terrifying, I felt like my soul was being sucked out of my face. </em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He shuddered, it must have been so much worse for Dream than it had been for him. He couldn’t even imagine how it would feel to have your soul being taken. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>Why do you think that happened? </em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dream messaged him again. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George thought for a little bit, he couldn’t come up with a response, it didn’t make any sense. If that really was Dream, why wouldn’t he have a face?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>I don’t know, can you think of anything?</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dream’s typing bubble kept appearing and disappearing, he was typing and deleting. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>You don’t know what I look like, George.. You know what the rest of me looks like, but not my face. Maybe that’s why? We appear as we imagine each other, you can’t imagine what I look like because you don’t know what I look like. </em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George scoffed. Dream always found excuses for strange stuff. He promptly closed the messages, deciding to leave Dream on read, and layed back down in his bed, arm behind his head. He stared at the popcorn ceiling and smiled, he didn’t want to talk to Dream about the events leading up to the ‘no-face’ ordeal, but thinking about them brought a comforting warmth. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>What did it mean though? Were they about to kiss? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>No.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That’s a silly idea, there’s no way George would ever kiss Dream, especially make the first move, that’s insane. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Then what was it?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George couldn’t help but ask himself, he hated that. The peacefulness was gone again. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He laid back in bed and stared at the ceiling. He wanted to continue sleeping, not out of tiredness, just boredom. Dream’s faceless body flashed in his mind as soon as he closed his eyes, and George shot up, he couldn’t go back to sleep. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Almost immediately after, Dream texted again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>Hey, I was thinking of streaming, maybe you should come with me so we can clear some things up with the viewers.</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George scowled, he forgot about that part, the anxiety came rushing back, goosebumps covering his sleeveless arms. He put on a hoodie and texted Dream back. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>Yeah sure, that’s probably a good idea.</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dream sent back a smiley face, and just a few minutes later, started his stream. The views started pouring in, after yesterday’s stream, how could they not? George looked at the rushing chat, catching only glimpses of what people were saying. Most of it was about him and George, though. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George took a deep breath and joined the call with Dream. “Hi everyone!” he said, cautiously. Chat started going even faster, he couldn’t even read what it said. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Are the mods going to turn on slow mode or sub only?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George couldn’t bring himself to look at the amount of viewers, although he was sure it was well over 100k. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dream began speaking, slow and calculated, as if he had scripted what he was going to say. “Hello everyone, as you can see, George is here with me, we’re still friends, nothing happened between us. What you saw on George’s stream yesterday was simply a misunderstanding. I hope you understand that, and respect our choice of not disclosing any other information about it.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George nodded to himself, Dream was really good at handling these kinds of situations. George on the other hand, not so much. He should be the one dealing with this, it was his fault after all, but Dream knew George wouldn’t be able to do it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George chimed in, “Yeah, it was all just a miscommunication, please don’t think we are any less friends because of this, everything is okay between us”. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Chat slowed down a bit, and everything resumed as normal, as normal as possible anyways. The stream ended up being quite uneventful, and they spent the entire time chatting and doing countless attempts at a speedrun record. George was happy. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The anxiety of having to go back to sleep was still there, as his usual sleep hour was nearing, but he pushed it down. George just wanted to enjoy this time with Dream. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dream ended the stream a couple hours later, but they continued to play. Dream wasn’t in the best mood, he hadn’t even made a sub 23 run the entire stream. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey, Dream, what if we switched to doing something else, maybe take a small break and try again tomorrow?” George tried to ease some of Dream’s tension. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dream chuckled, he was still angry. “Yeah, sure, that’s probably a good idea, before I accidentally break my mouse or my keyboard or something..” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George opened the Dream smp, just to check what was happening, George wasn’t active very often, he wasn’t involved in many arcs either. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Dream smp?” George asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uh- Yeah, that’s good, we could build something or grind for supplies”. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George nodded, even though Dream couldn’t see him. The tension from yesterday was gone, and replaced with a different kind of tension, a stranger one. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dream broke the silence between them, much calmer than before. “Uh, about what happened in the dream last night.. Before the whole face issue.. What- what was going to happen?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George feared he was going to ask this. “I- uh.. What do you mean?” he didn’t know what to answer, he felt light-headed and faint. George hoped Dream wouldn’t ask again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Come on, George, you know” Dream continued, he wasn’t going to stop. “I know you might not feel the most comfortable talking about this stuff but I think we should”.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George felt bad, Dream was really trying.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George hesitated, last time he got this flustered, he ended up saying stuff he regretted, although thankfully there aren’t thousands of people watching this time. “I don’t know what you want me to say, Dream”. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dream cleared his throat, George had come off harsher than he intended to. “Ok, you know what, I won’t push any further, when you want to talk to me, you can”. He sounded angry again, George should have approached it differently. He opened his mouth to say something, but he couldn’t think of anything. His mind was blank.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dream promptly ended the call. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George felt guilty once again. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Why can’t I just control myself? </span>
  </em>
  <span>He was never like this, it was new territory, and he didn’t know how to manage it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He texted Dream. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>Look, I’m sorry, I get flustered, okay? I didn’t mean to sound mad, could we just wait a bit before talking about it?</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dream started typing immediately.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>Yes, we can wait</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George was about to reply, when Dream started typing again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>Also.. I had an idea. Remember my theory about why you don’t see my face in those dreams, well, I have a little surprise for you. </em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George started trembling. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Dream isn’t going to do this, right? Not now?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A few seconds later, Dream sent him a snap, and a shiver went down George’s spine.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>There’s no way..</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He clicked the notification, he didn’t want to, but he was yearning to at the same time. He opened the snap and shut his eyes so tight he could see little flashes of color. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Slowly he opened his eyes, first one, then the other, slowly letting them focus on the image on his phone. George sighed. Big green eyes, brown fur. It wasn’t Dream, it was Patches. Another snap notification from Dream. A video this time. Patches meowed at Dream, while he did his signature wheeze laugh from behind the camera, struggling to get his words out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I can.. Just imagine your face.. George”. He couldn’t help but smile, Dream was so annoying sometimes. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He sent back a snap of him flipping off the camera, the Facebook Mom</span>
  <span>™ angle, trying his best to make an intimidating face. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dream screenshotted it, and George immediately started typing furiously in their chat. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>NOO WTF DELETE THAT NOW &gt;:(</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George laughed, as he got another notification on snapchat, probably another picture of Patches.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Fire Aspect</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>
    <em>Fire Aspect</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George checked the time, it was 8 in the morning. A normal person would be waking up right now, he was getting ready for bed. Dream’s snap was still unopened. He was going to wait until he was already in bed to open snap again. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He brushed his teeth and slipped on a clean shirt and shorts, it was colder than usual in his house, but George didn’t mind, he just got a few extra blankets from the closet and layed in bed. He reached over for his phone, it’s battery was a bit low, so he plugged it in and finally decided to open snapchat. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He clicked on the little red icon next to Dream’s snapchat name, and a picture opened. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A man with dirty blonde hair, almost brown, almost, smiled back at him. His face was covered in freckles and his green eyes had a little circle of brown near the pupil. He was more than conventionally attractive. His smile was gorgeous, slightly lopsided, with pearly white teeth. He had this look on his face, as if he was amused, trying to hold back his laughter, and he knew it was Dream.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> George had never seen Dream’s face before, and yet he was 100% certain this was him. The comforting warmth came back, pooling in his stomach, the same place where the guilt had been. The blankets almost seemed too much to bear now, he was suffocating, suffocating in the best way possible. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He sent back a similar selfie, except he wasn’t smiling, he was trying to look intimidating. It wasn’t working. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dream replied back with a text. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>I bet you won’t see my mask when we go to sleep tonight. </em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George smiled.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>So that's why he did it..</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George wanted to get into the dream as soon as possible. He turned off his phone and closed his eyes, but the silence echoing through his room was too unsettling, he was still anxious about the faceless Dream he had seen. George rolled around in his bed for what felt like forever, but the image wouldn’t leave his mind. He didn’t want to go through that again. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George grasped for his phone in the darkness, and finally got a hold of it. He turned on Dreamland, the song hadn’t escaped his mind since the first time he heard it. The words rang out in his room, and he was washed away by the vocals yet again. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As he slowly felt himself float into the dream, a voice pulled him deeper.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was Dream. He was wrong though, because he still had the mask on his face. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George ignored the headache that always welcomed him to the empty plane, and immediately ran to Dream. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I had been waiting for you for an hour!!” Dream shook George. George laughed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, it just took me a while to fall asleep.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dream shrugged to the next topic, his voice becoming brighter with each passing moment, George wanted to stay like this forever. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I spent some time wondering what we could possibly do here, because being on a boring flat surface everynight would get pretty boring,” Dream began to explain. “Soooo.. I decided to see what I can do and guess what!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What..?” George was curious, he had spent some time alone here and yet nothing interesting had ever happened. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s just like a creative minecraft world!” He jumped up and down when he said this, George didn’t.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He didn’t quite understand what Dream meant. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Like..? I’m sorry, I don’t understand.. Creative minecraft world??” Dream always spoke in minecraft analogies and George had trouble understanding them most of the time. Sapnap didn’t, he would always ‘translate’ what Dream was saying. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We can do whatever we want!” Dream was happy. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He opened his hand and dirt appeared. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George was astonished. A wide smile spread across his face and excitement started building up, just like when he was a child. “How did you do that?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dream laughed. “Just imagine something in your hand,” he held out his other hand. “And then ask for it, and it’ll appear!” A diamond, just like the ones from minecraft appeared. “At least that's what I do..” He smiled. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George held out his hand. He envisioned a book, just a random, blank book. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Please, can I have a book, please..</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He felt a weight on his hand, he quickly opened his hand and it was there. He wasn’t imagining it, the book was really there! </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He looked up at Dream and smiled. Smiled harder than he had in years. He had this feeling of nostalgia wash over him. Nostalgia for something he had never experienced. He was a little kid again. In spirit. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Him and Dream spent hours making things appear in their hands, little things. They weren’t quite sure what the limitations were. They had millions of things piled around them, games, gold, whatever they could imagine. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey Dream, do you think we could get things bigger than our hands? Like a table?” George proposed the idea. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dream thought for a minute, there shouldn’t be a reason why not, if everything else worked. “Yeah, I think so,” he stuck out his hand. “How do you think I should do this?” Dream asked. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uh, maybe imagine it infront of you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dream took a step back, and pointed at the ground a few feet in front of him. A brown table spawned. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dream looked at it gingerly, “This was the table in my childhood home..” he took a slight step towards it and placed a hand on the top, it was made out of wood, but had a waxy sort of look to it, “Most of my siblings don’t remember this table, they were too young.” George imagined a tiny Dream, running around the table, playing with toys and whatnot, he smiled. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why don’t you try, George?” Dream pushed the table away, and it disappeared. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh! How’d you do that? How’d you get it to go away?” George’s eyes widened, he started at the place where the table had been in disbelief. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t.. Know? I just kind of wished it away?” Dream shrugged, unbothered. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George closed his eyes, and pictured the entire area empty once more. He opened them and all the stuff was gone. No more diamonds, no more playing cards, nothing. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dream scoffed. “Well, looks like cleaning up is going to be easy.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George pushed aways Dream’s comment and tried to focus, he didn’t know what to think of, he wanted something special, like what Dream did, but his mind was blank. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“George? What are you doing haha?” Dream laughed. “You look so concentrated..” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George opened his eyes, “Oh, yeah sorry, haha, I just can’t think of anything to get..” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dream tilted his head and hesitated for a second, “Think of the thing you want most right now” George furrowed his brows, “Not in life. Right. Now. What do you want the most at this very second.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George closed his eyes. What does he want the most? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dream’s voice echoed through him, something about it made it painfully obvious what he wanted. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You can do it, George, just picture it in your mind,” Dream encouraged, “Picture it and imagine it infront of you.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George followed Dream’s instructions, and imagined the thing he wanted most right now, the thing he yearned for, what he’d been thinking about every single day, for hours on end. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uh..” George opened his eyes, Dream’s voice sounded.. confused? Standing before him was Dream. A different Dream. He looked the same, but there was something off about him, something strange. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dreamland began playing, softly, the sound emanating from the sky. The new Dream held out his hand to George, and George took it, hesitantly. He could see the original Dream from the corner of his eyes, he looked perplexed, and a little scared, George had no idea how he would react to this, and that scared him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The new Dream, holding tightly onto George’s cold, shaking hand, finally spoke. “This is what this plane is truly for..” George looked back at Dream, pleading to him with his eyes, “bringing your fantasies to life, your deepest desires.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dreamland faded away, and instead was replaced by a waltz George didn’t know. New Dream pulled him close, placing a hand on his waist and leading him through the empty area. They were dancing. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Was this what George wanted? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The song rose and fell, and their dance did in tune, a twisted dance, teasing the real Dream, pulling apart his brain. George felt himself loosen, he no longer had control over his movements, slave to the music, and the melting touch of the New Dream. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They turned, and spun, and the song went on forever. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And Dream, the real Dream, stood watching, with nothing left to do. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As the climax of the song drew nearer, New Dream spun George out, lifting an arm to unbuckle the mask. It fell to the ground with a startling sound, Dream flinched. He was transfixed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George felt a slight pride that Dream couldn’t take his eyes off him, though he knew it wasn’t him that Dream was consumed by. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The face behind the mask was the same one he had seen in the selfie before falling asleep, except it wasn’t just a picture anymore, it was moving, and for a second he almost forgot it wasn’t real. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The music was swelling, throbbing inside his chest, and mind, clogging all George’s thoughts, all that was left was the not-quite-right image of New Dream. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dream remained unmoving, except for his head, which followed their every move, and although George couldn’t see his face, he could feel the anger seething from Dream. He didn’t know why he would be angry, but he was definitely angry. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The final rise of the song resonated throughout his entire being, and he completely lost control. As New Dream bowed, his arm in the small of George’s back, dipping him, the adrenaline that had been pumping through him weakened, and gave way for a wave of anxiety. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>New Dream lulled George back up from the dip, slowly, keeping his soft green eyes implanted onto George’s, and George couldn’t look away. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>New Dream pulled George closer, the ending of the song fading away, and the quiet remains hung in the air thickly, as New Dream leaned in, eyes closed, and planted a kiss directly onto George’s lips. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The kiss stung, it sent an ache into his entire body, it filled his mouth with the disgusting taste of soot. George’s eyes began to water, the guilt, and the ache, and the taste, it was all too much for him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He felt the back of his shirt get pulled, the force separating him and New Dream, the symptoms not going away completely. He lifted his head just in time to see Dream punch his clone, sending it sprawling to the floor, and then disappearing. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>George took a cautious step towards him, thankful for his intervention, however late it was. He opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Dream, his back still turned to George. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know what's going on, George.”</span>
</p>
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